Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 67510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“Bailey—”
“Come on, I’ve never fought you guys on anything. I’ve always marched in line with whatever the team decided whether I wanted to or not, but I’m begging you for a chance to do this. I have a great feeling about it, and I’m usually right.”
“And what if you’re wrong?”
“Then I’m wrong.”
“You’re willing to risk that for a guy? After all the hard work you’ve put in all these years?”
“He’s not just a guy.”
“Really? Because you just told me he was only a close friend, and from the way your eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when I mentioned his name, you’re right, he wasn’t.”
“Does that mean you’re going to let me do this? If you give the approval, you know the team will back you up.”
“Bailey.” She stood, grabbing my shoulders again. “My job is to look out for you, and you’re asking me to do the opposite of what you’ve hired me to do.”
“Then don’t do it as my publicist. Do it as my friend. I need a friend.”
With a pointed stare, she indicated, “You’re laying it on pretty thick.”
I smiled. “Is it working?”
Neither one of us said anything for a minute, and the silence was deafening between us. However, it was the turmoil I felt knowing she may not agree with me that was wreaking havoc in my mind.
Whatever was happening between Aires and me was almost too much to understand. All I could do was base my decisions on the way he still made me feel. Not to mention, he was a phenomenal actor and he’d kill in the role of Samuel. This movie had Oscar written all over it, especially since it was being directed by the B. Night. He was a genius in his own right.
To play opposite Aires, we’d light up that screen. From our very first kiss at fourteen years old, I didn’t just see stars. He made me see the whole-ass galaxy.
It was bright.
Bold.
Earth-shattering.
Words couldn’t describe how much what he did for me meant to me. It seemed like the world stopped spinning for a second, and it was only us. Right there on that roof deck with him on top of me, I felt absolutely everything I’d been missing all these years.
My eyes tightly shut, and I tried like hell not to let my emotions get the best of me, which threw me right back into that night when his lips were rough but smooth against mine.
My heart beat so fast, I could feel it pounding in my skull, in my bones, in my soul. My thoughts never stopped racing as I desperately tried to gather the memory of him.
He seemed so honest, so real, especially when he let his guard down with me.
The way he looked at me.
Spoke to me.
Listened.
Every smile.
Every laugh.
Every word that fell from his lips felt like it meant something.
It didn’t matter how big or small.
I felt like I mattered to him.
Besides, I owed him.
I opened my eyes and saw familiarity staring right back at me. It was as if she knew what I was thinking, what I was feeling, like she had been in the same complicated spot I was currently in. It was the first time I felt like we were on the same playing field.
“Please,” I pleaded, aware I was getting through to her. “Do this for me.”
I held my breath until she finally replied with…
“Okay.”
chapter seven
Aires
Since I expected it to come down to this, I was prepared. We sat in Bailey’s management team’s office. I was at one end of the table with my team surrounding me while hers was on the other side. It looked and felt very much like an ambush.
I nodded to her agent. “It’s good to see you again, Robert.”
“Wish I could say the same.”
Biting my tongue, I responded, “I understand that you’re wary of me, but I can guarantee you that I will give 110 percent to this movie.”
Her manager got right down to business. “There’s not a chance in hell Bailey is doing this movie with you.”
Before I let my short fuse get the best of me, B. Night chimed in, “Now let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Bailey would kill in this role, and you know it.”
“We have no problem with Bailey playing the role of Quinn,” Robert announced. “Just as long as he’s not playing the role of Samuel.”
What could I say?
Where I could I even start?
If I spoke up, it was going to be out of anger, and that was never a good thing. I didn’t have to worry for long. One of my favorite things about Thomas was his power to command a room, and he proved his worth to me within seconds.
As soon as he declared, “Aires has every intention of doing whatever he needs to do to make this happen. On top of the fact that we’re talking about Bailey Pierce-McGraw and Nicholas Aires III, let me pitch it for you… America’s Sweetheart and the bad boy of Hollywood filming a movie together, can we say tabloid gold? Bailey is known to the world as the girl next door, but let’s not mistake her fandom. It won’t be long until they outgrow her. She needs a new edge. She needs a new following. Something relatable, something real.” He paused for effect.